Word Magic is a fine app to practice spelling and phonics, with friendly, animated graphics and encouraging audio but it has no noteworthy features. The free version is limited to a five word trial and the upgrade has over 100 words and more preferences in settings. Games require the student to identify the missing letter to correctly spell the spoken word. They can choose if the letter is missing from the beginning, middle or end of the word. There is always a cheerful picture and the word is spoken by an enthusiastic child. While this feature may make the game more friendly, the audio is not perfect and it can make it harder for children still learning their sounds. Preferences allow an adult to vary the game by choosing from two levels, word length from 3 to 6 letters, challenge time from 1 to 3 minutes,and long or short vowels. Although the timer cannot be hidden, it can be adjusted and children can guess until they answer correctly or skip the question altogether without consequence. Children may enjoy the sound effects, the positive tone of the child’s voice, and receiving stars as a reward for answering five consecutive questions correctly. Unfortunately, parents cannot track mastery of words. This simple app could potentially be helpful for some early spellers but there are certainly superior apps available.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
• Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Has a free or trial version
• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
• Multiple users can save a profile
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can play without sound and not distract others
• Students can save work between sessions
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Auditory Processing
• Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
• Audio is not clear or voice is robotic